Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! – Matthew 7:7-11 ESV

Warrior;
ASK, SEEK, KNOCK, OPEN! This is a progression. Do you want more of God? Do you want more time with GOD? Is your prayer to pray more, to be in his word, MORE? DO YOU WANT MORE OF GOD, FROM GOD and WITH GOD? This question more than any other will tell you about the condition of your heart, the desires of your heart, and WHO and WHAT, has your heart! This is a HEART CHECKUP. God Himself says through the prophet Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13). God has a few parables about consistent desire in the presence of being brushed off. Is your desire to be with God and to know God better more today than yesterday? Tomorrow will it be more then, than it is now? If it is you will get resistance, if it is NOT, the resistance is pulling you away from God and into the world.

Leader, you will very seldom ever get what you don’t ASK for. Is the desire of your heart to know God? When was the last time you asked God to know Him better? If it was not this morning in your prayers, then ask the question, “What do I want more than God?” If there is an answer then, that is your God! God wants us to be like a LOVER and DESIRE more of HIM. Sometimes we have our cup so filled with OURSELVES, the Lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the Pride of Life, that it is hard to fit much more in our CUP. This is what Paul meant when He said, “I must decrease, and you must increase”. It is a crossing set of lines, LESS OF ME, MORE OF HIM! The NLT John 3:30 puts it best: He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. Again, notice the progression. It is a building, a growing- is your DESIRE for GOD like that? Growing, building…a virtual crescendo?

Conduit, see Luke 8:1-8 for the story of a needy widow repeatedly coming before the judge to plead her case, but this unjust judge ignores her. Nevertheless, she refuses to give up. Eventually, the judge says to himself, “I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!” (Luke 18:4–5, NLT). There is also the parable of the persistent neighbor (Luke 11:5–10), This neighbor wanted bread, his desire was great to where, getting this bread was all that mattered. So He knocked and knocked, and he pushed away rejection until he got what He wanted. Jesus presents a final quiz on the matter at the end of the parable of the persistent widow and unjust judge. He asks, “But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?” (Luke 18:8, NLT). The Lord wants to know if He will find any faithful prayer warriors left on the earth when He returns. Will we be among God’s people still praying at Christ’s second coming, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done” (Matthew 6:10)? WHAT DO YOU WANT? If the answer is anything physical, or of this world- your DESIRE IS OF THE FLESH see 1 John 2:15. It is time to get your HEART ON FOR GOD! It is time to REFOCUS. Get your eyes off the world and get them on the LORD. Dear heavenly Father, please Lord correct our focus. Let your desires be our desires and let your ways be our ways. Please God remove from me anything that quenches my fire for you and your word. I ask this in the precious name of my risen King. Jesus, amen!